Because of the global pandemic of COVID-19, the United States, as well as other countries, are in a state of national emergency. This has caused a lot of stores to close their doors and cancelled a lot of entertainment events to help prevent the spread of this disease. As a nation, we have been encouraged to practice social distancing and self-quarantine in order to keep each other safe. Symptoms of the coronavirus can be very different for each person, so someone could have the coronavirus or be carrying it and not even realize it. This is why social distancing is so important, even if you or the person you’re with seem healthy.
Self-quarantine will hopefully make the spread of COVID-19 plateau, but at what cost? For all the social butterflies and extroverts out there, social distancing has probably been one of the hardest things you’ve done. No gatherings of 10 or more people, staying 6-feet apart from everyone, and places like the beach, the mall and dining-in for restaurants is closed. Although not ideal, there are still ways you can talk to and hang out with your friends during self-quarantine.
1. Use your phone to talk to your friends!
Our phones are such great resources in times like these because there are so many different ways you can talk to your friend using your phone. You can text, call, Facetime, Skype, Snapchat, direct message them on Instagram or Twitter and more. If you’re feeling lonely, just send a quick text to a friend and ask how they’re doing. If you miss face to face interaction, try using Skype video chat or Facetime so you can physically see your friend.
2. Try reaching out to old or new friends
If you’re tired of talking to your friends and want to talk to someone new, try texting one of those people you met the first couple weeks of freshman year or someone you don’t see or talk to often. Check-in with how they’re coping with self-quarantine, online learning and possibly living at home again.
3. Use dating apps
There are so many different dating apps like Bumble, Tinder, Gindr, Her, etc. These apps discourage anyone from actually meeting up in order to continue the practice of social distancing, but you can still talk to people and meet someone new. Using dating apps right now is a really cool and low-pressure way to talk to and meet new people because you can’t actually meet them in person.
4. Watch movies and TV shows with your friends
The streaming services are coming in clutch this quarantine. If you want an activity to do with your friends, there are many ways you can watch shows and movies together. The easiest is to have a Netflix Party where everyone is synced up and watching the same show, but there is a chat that you and all your friends can text in while you watch. You can also watch the same show while being on FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype with one or more friends.
5. Play games with your friends!
If you don’t want to just talk to your friends, you can also play games with them. If you have an Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch you can play lots of different games with your friends, Animal Crossing being one of the most popular right now. If you don’t have a gaming console, you can play games on the computer like Minecraft or Roblox. You can also play games with people using the filters on Snapchat that are games you can play back and forth or the iMessage games like 8-ball.
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